By William Yaw Owusu
President John Mahama’s decision to order the release of three National Democratic Congress (NDC) activists who were jailed for contempt by the Supreme Court has sparked outrage throughout the country.
Many legal practitioners and influential personalities have observed that Mr. Mahama had set a ‘dangerous’ precedence while others said the president’s action would promote lawlessness and incapacitate the judiciary from upholding the administration of justice and the promotion of the rule of law.
Constitutional Lawlessness
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, a lawyer, described the president’s action as ‘constitutional lawlessness’ and said his (president’s) decision was founded on partisan grounds and was being used to spite the judiciary in the face.
He explained on Joy FM that the president had proven by his action that when one speaks for him and rubbishes or threatens others, he will invoke his constitutional powers to grant pardon and added that his action showed clearly that he was determined to please his NDC supporters and not necessarily uphold the Constitution.
He noted that the president has the comfort to rule this country because of a decision of the Supreme Court, without which he would not be president – in reference to the landmark Presidential Election Petition.
Recipe for Disrespect
Former Attorney General Joseph Ayikoi Otoo said the president’s action would promote disrespect directed at judges, saying the remission of the sentence would only lay the grounds for people with political leanings to misbehave towards the judiciary.
He told Kasapa FM in Accra yesterday, “It’s unfortunate, I don’t speak for the Judges and I don’t know how they’ll feel, but I can say that they will be highly disappointed…this is the logical inferences that could be drawn from what has happened.”
NDC President
Mr Ayikoi Otoo said the invocation of the president’s constitutional powers under Article 72 of the 1992 Constitution in the manner he did was for political expediency following the pressure mounted on him by members and ministers of the NDC to have the three freed, explaining, “It’s a show for the NDC… this has proven that he is a president for only members of his party – NDC.”
“It is very clear that these are NDC operatives and they were sure that the president would do that (pardon them). Consulting the Council of State made no difference. If the president wants to be seen as an NDC president, he should go ahead and do that. Those words that they have added to the statement about him cautioning people, they shouldn’t have added that. If he wanted to caution people, he should have allowed them to serve their sentence.”
Miscreants Endorsement
The Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, Joe Osei-Wusu, who is NPP MP for Bekwai, preferred to tackle the issue from the angle of the Council of State.
He described the council as ‘a haven for scoundrels’ saying, “Every country rests firmly on some pillars of state. One such pillar is the Council of State. Rather than standing firm and being a pillar, statesmen and women, they have chosen to be partisan; and I regret that very much. They have become an anchor for misconduct rather than the pillars of state,” he bemoaned.
He told Class FM that he found the actions of the president and the Council of State dangerous saying, “People who misconduct themselves will petition and the Council of State will say: ‘On compassionate grounds, give it to them, release them…’ rather than the Council of State standing firmly and saying: ‘No, this state must be protected from miscreants; people who abuse their constitutional powers must be punished.’ These statesmen and women have become supporters of miscreants, those who misconduct themselves and abuse the constitutional rights they have.”
PNC Disappointed
Presidential candidate for the People’s National Convention (PNC), Dr. Edward Nasigre Mahama also waded into the issue and condemned President Mahama on Twitter, a social media platform.
He posted on Monday: “I am very disappointed in the president’s decision to endorse Montie Fm insults on our leaders, judges, by releasing them. John the other Mahama has just stabbed the judiciary in the back. Cry my beloved country. This is an attack on the rule of law. #RestoreGhana.”